Settlement on eve of trial for worker who suffered an electrical shock and fall

Settlement against crane maintenance and repair companies just days before trial in Middlesex Superior Court for worker who fractured most of the left side of his body after receiving a shock from an overhead crane and falling approximately 25 feet to the ground below. The worker was in the process of repairing a railing when he engaged the remote control for an overhead crane he was using to hold the railing in place. He immediately felt a strong electric shock, lost his balance and struck the mid-section of the railing, which broke. He then fell approximately 25 feet to the ground and was emergently taken to a Boston hospital. Through discovery and depositions, SUGARMAN’s attorneys were able to learn that several of the plaintiff’s co-workers had previously received smaller electrical shocks and, in the weeks before the plaintiff’s fall, had reported them to one of the defendants who supposedly investigated, found nothing, and told the co-employees that it was safe to continue using the crane. After a failed mediation and vigorous pre-trial motion practice, the plaintiff settled against one of the defendants. The case then was fully settled several days before trial after the video trial deposition of the plaintiff’s medical expert.